U.S. Gasoline Rises to a Record $3.01 a Gallon, Lundberg Says
U.S. Gasoline Rises to a Record $3.01 a Gallon, Lundberg Says
Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. gasoline pump prices rose 38 cents in the past two weeks to a record average $3.01 a gallon, Trilby Lundberg said, citing a survey of about 7,000 filling stations by her Camarillo, California, research firm.
``This all-time high will not last because we can see wholesale prices coming down almost everywhere in the country,'' Lundberg said in an interview. ``We will see those lower prices on the street very soon.''
Gasoline futures based on wholesale prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange have fallen 25 percent from an Aug. 31 record reached after Hurricane Katrina disrupted as much as 10 percent of U.S. refinery capacity.
The lowest price for self-serve regular gasoline was in Jackson, Mississippi, at $2.61 a gallon, according to Lundberg. The highest was on New York's Long Island where a gallon cost $3.35.
Lundberg surveys the price paid for regular-grade gasoline every two or three weeks. Before this year, the highest price in her survey was $2.07 a gallon on May 21, 2004. Gasoline pump prices in Lundberg's survey are up 68 percent from $1.79 a gallon on Jan. 9.
The cost of the crude oil that goes into a gallon of gasoline makes up about 44 percent of the U.S. retail price, according to the Energy Department's statistical arm.
Crude oil futures for October delivery fell almost 10 percent to $64.08 a barrel from a record high of $70.85 on Aug. 30 as some refineries knocked out by Katrina began to return to service. Oil prices are up 47 percent this year.
Four Louisiana refineries that were shut because of Katrina have resumed operations, leaving four others in Louisiana and Mississippi shut. Most plants that slowed processing because of reduced crude supplies have returned to normal production the U.S. Energy Department said.
Motorist demand is also expected to decline after the summer travel season ended with the Labor Day holiday Sept. 5.
``Prices will be coming down as our (refining) capacity comes back up and our demand, which is always lower in September, falls,'' Lundberg said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Thomas in New York at danielt@bloomberg.net.
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